"If You Don't Have Big Breasts, Put Ribbons On Your Pigtails"

As a waitress, Barbara Corcoran thought she couldn't compete with a blonde bombshell waitress with giant breasts. Her mom, however, told her to put ribbons on her pigtails for a sweet and virginal image.

Sure enough, the tactic worked.

Renowned real estate mogul Barbara Corcoran tells us that she learned everything about marketing and building a business from her mother whose basic message was to "use what you got."

Recommended For You

The Board Room

Editors' Picks

Great interview. Didn't realize 1 of 10 kids and a D student. Plato said everyone has arete (or something like that). Whatever it is, capitalize on it. She didn't strengthen her weakest (reading/being a student) but shifted to her strengths - persuasion, selling, etc.